Patrocinador

We thank the Junta de Andalucía (Spain) for funding this study through project reference
P08-RNM-04180 and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology for funding through
project reference CTM2009-09270. M. Manzanera received grants from the Programa Ramón y Cajal, (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia MEC, Spain, and ERDF, European Union).

Resumen

Modern societies’ welfare relies greatly on fossil fuels. The current energy model, based on the extensive utilization of fossil fuels, is affected by economic and environmental problems.
The United States Department of Energy 2009 report estimates that, within the next two
decades, global energy consumption will double (Conti, 2009). On the other hand, the
European Commission 2009 report indicates that the management of climate change
problems in Europe, since 2000, has been globally unfavourable. Nevertheless, there are some positive signs, such as the 1.4% reduction in 2007 of CO2 emissions with respect to the figures obtained from 2000 to 2004 in the European Union of Fifteen (E-15). However, considering the 27 European states (E-27), and paying attention to the consumption and production of renewable energy and biofuels, the reduction in emissions has not fulfilled the
European Union objectives. Among the motives of this negative evaluation, the fall in the
companies’ productivity, increased transport and industry emissions and the reduction in
research and development areas can be cited (Radermacher, 2009). First- and secondgeneration biofuels could ameliorate or solve the associated fossil fuel depletion problems, although their recent implantation has raised some doubts. The main problems associated with biofuels are the food vs. fuel controversy; the agricultural and forestry land usage and
the actual sustainability of biofuels’ production. Third-generation biofuels, based on the microbiological processing of agricultural, urban and industrial residues, could be a possible solution. However, several technical problems must be solved to make them economically viable and easily affordable for the industry (Robles-Medina et al., 2009).